Last week in response to Cee’s Black & White theme of sculpture I posted an image of some statuary from the Basilica San Marco. This week’s topic is glass and here is another image from a religious edifice, in this case the mind-bogglingly beautiful Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

This photograph was taken – as you can see – on New Year’s Day 2012, in the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It shows the date on both the Gregorian and Islamic (Hijri) calendars, as well as the names, in Arabic, of the five daily prayers (the display alternates with the time that the prayers are to be said on that specific day).

Something in the human brain is attracted to symmetry; we find it – almost always – aesthetically pleasing. And, as Cee points out this week, it can appear in many different guises.

To begin with, here are two images from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The first is yet another (no apologies though) chandelier, pictured from below, which is an example of circular symmetry, while the second is the top of a dome, which is obviously an example of left/right symmetry.

Although symmetry is an important element of Islamic art, it also features extensively in secular situations in Arab countries. Here is part of the seawall on the Abu Dhabi Corniche and – more prosaically – the underground carpark of the Dubai Mall.

It’s also possible to see symmetry in multiple subjects: like these two conjoined kites from the Blond airshow and a set of measuring jugs from a museum in Sarlat.